Amazon triumphs in 1-Click patent defence

IPXL appeal rejected

Amazon.com has successfully defended a claim that its famous 1-Click payment feature infringed another company's patent for an electronic fund transfer or transaction system. IPXL Holdings had been seeking around $50 million in damages.

Amazon.com's 1-Click system allows customers to make repeat purchases at a website with just one mouse click, storing customer details for future use. It enforced its own patent for 1-Click in a high-profile case against rival bookseller Barnes & Noble.com.

But in January 2004, Virginia-based IPXL sued Amazon.com, alleging that Amazon.com was infringing an electronic fund transfer system patent.

In August 2004, District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that four of the patent claims on which the suit was based were invalid due to prior art (they were already in the public domain) and that the fifth and final claim was invalid because it was indefinite.

IPXL appealed, but on Monday lost its case before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Appeals Court upheld the findings of invalidity, and therefore did not consider whether the 1-Click feature had actually infringed upon the patent.